


maybe the world could be ours

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, and some background kaylee/shelby, duet au, supreme dumbass behavior tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 03:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19821904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: Alyssa and Emma are chosen to be duet partners for the midterm of their music class.





	maybe the world could be ours

“That leaves Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene.”

Alyssa looks up, startled, and glances around the room to realize that Kaylee and Shelby have partnered up together, leaving her alone for their music class’s duet assignment.

Alone… with Emma Nolan.

Emma pales, giving Alyssa a deer-in-headlights look, and stammers, “U-Uh… Are you… sure?”

Mr. Glickman rolls his eyes. “Am I sure that you’re the only two who aren’t already standing next to someone else?”

Alyssa edges over towards Emma slowly. “It’ll be fine. We’ll do… great.”

Emma gives one of the most awkward laughs Alyssa has ever heard. “Sure. Great.”

“Alright everyone, remember, these will be your _midterms_ , so try to make them flashy. I’m talking big sound, big emotions, extra credit for attempting to be in a costume that’s relevant. Go and talk about what you want to do.”

Emma blinks at Alyssa, not moving, so Alyssa grabs Emma’s jacket and pulls her over to one of the corners of the room. “Are you okay? I’m not entirely sure that you’re… breathing.”

“I’m fine,” Emma squeaks. She clears her throat, looking embarrassed, and when she speaks again her voice is stronger, more confident. “I mean. I’m fine. Uh. What do you want to do for this project?”

“Well, what do you like singing?”

Emma gives a noncommittal shrug. “I’m flexible. Whatever you want to do, I’ll do.”

“We need to come up with _something_ …” Alyssa taps her foot and puts her hands on her hips, quietly humming to herself as she thinks.

_[Say you were made to be mine / Nothing could keep us apart / You’d be the one-]_

Alyssa’s head snaps up, and she sees that Emma, also thinking as she thumbs through her iPhone, is quietly singing along to the song she’s been humming. Emma notices the silence and looks up, blushing as she meets Alyssa’s gaze.

“Sorry. It’s a habit.”

“That one. We should sing that one.”

“The… The love song.”

Alyssa ignores the sudden twist in her stomach. “Love songs are great for duets. You can get a lot of emotion out of just the emotion alone. It’s perfect.”

Emma stares at her.

Alyssa winces. “You don’t think it’ll be a good idea.”

“No; I think it’s fine,” Emma says quickly. “Just. I wasn’t expecting that to be your choice.”

“I think we can do it.” Alyssa holds out her hand. “Partners.”

Emma shakes it, still looking bewildered. “Partners.”

* * *

“Thanks for letting us practice in here, Mrs. Nolan,” Alyssa says, shaking Betsy Nolan’s hand. “My mom would flip if she had to listen to the same song over and over and over again for weeks while she was trying to work.”

“No need to thank me, dear. It’s nice to see Emma have a friend for once, even if it’s just for an assignment. She doesn’t see nearly enough people her own age. I always said that she had to just talk to you. It would-.”

_“Gramma!”_ Emma’s sharp voice comes from the top of the stairs, and Alyssa holds back a laugh as her horrified expression comes into view. “Whatever she’s told you, Alyssa, please ignore it.”

Alyssa gives Betsy a short nod of acknowledgment and heads up the stairs. “What if she was saying that you’re a wonderful fountain of maturity whose wisdom knows no bounds?”

“I’d ask who you were talking to, because it sure wasn’t my grandmother,” Emma says, leading Alyssa up to her room.

Alyssa snickers. “She seems nice.”

“Oh, she’s definitely nice. She’ll probably make you cookies before you leave. She just also loves getting me flustered.”

“Aw. You’re cute when you get flustered, though.”

Emma looks over her shoulder. “What?”

“I said it’s fun to make you flustered.”

Emma snorts. “Thanks a lot.”

* * *

_< Say that it’s possible>_

Alyssa stops singing, squinting across the room at Emma. “That was supposed to be both of us, I think.”

Emma looks down at her music sheet and winces. “Right. Sorry. I got distracted.” She scribbles a note onto her sheet with a pencil and murmurs, “Did you know that you’re especially pretty when you sing?”

“What was that?”

Alyssa can see Emma’s blush over the music stand. “Nothing! Everything’s good over here! Everything’s fine!”

“Okay. Do you want to start from there with both of us and see if we can get through the whole conclusion of the song?”

“Sure. On three?”

“Yeah. One… Two… Three…”

_#Say that it’s possible#_

* * *

Alyssa sprawls on her back on Emma’s bed, reaching for the popcorn and whining when Emma moves it out of reach. Emma, seated and leaning against the headboard, laughs. “If you eat this like that, you’re going to choke, and I’ll have to do this whole assignment by myself.”

“I would not!”

“You choked on a grape in third grade because you were lying down while we watched _101 Dalmatians_ , Alyssa. I’m not taking any chances.”

“You remember that?”

Emma shrugs. “It scared me. You were always nice to me, and it was scary to see to get hurt.”

“Yeah. It was scary when you fell off the monkey bars in fifth grade, too.”

Emma winces. “Can I admit something?”

“Yeah?”

“I was trying to impress you. A-And the others. I knew I wasn’t going to do any of the cheerleading stuff, but I still wanted to be part of the group, so I was trying to prove that I could at least still be relatively athletic.” Emma laughs awkwardly. “I was very, very wrong.”

“You didn’t need to do that to be part of the group, you know. At least, not to me.”

“That’s because you’re _you_ , Alyssa Greene.”

“I _am_ me.” Alyssa sits up. “And I want popcorn.”

Emma laughs again, less awkward. “No.” She sets it on the bedside table, out of Alyssa’s reach.

“I’m not laying down anymore!”

“I don’t trust you.”

Alyssa pouts at her. “You don’t trust me?”

Emma pauses like she’s going to give in, but she grits her teeth and shakes her head. “You can’t break me, Greene.”

“If I can’t break you, I can certainly overpower you. Cheerleader strength beats music nerd any day.”

“Oh, is that how it’s going to be?”

“It _is_!” Alyssa, laughing, dives across the bed, and Emma shifts up onto her knees to intercept her at the last minute. They meet as Alyssa grabs the bowl, and the collision sends them both sliding off the bed in a heap, surrounded by popcorn.

“That was… very smart of me,” Emma groans, half tangled in her comforter underneath Alyssa.

Alyssa giggles and sits up, straightening Emma’s glasses back from their crooked position. “You really should’ve known better.”

“Apparently so.” Emma looks up at her and flushes bright red. “U-Uhm… Alyssa, could, uhm…”

Still laughing, Alyssa prompts, “What?”

Emma clears her throat and whispers, “Could you get off of me?”

Alyssa looks down and suddenly realizes that she’s sitting on Emma’s hips. She blushes and hurries to her feet, reaching down to pull Emma off of the ground as well. “U-Uh… Sorry about the… About the popcorn.”

Emma clears her throat again and shrugs. “Not a big deal. I’ll just get the vacuum.”

“Right. Uhm. Do you want… Do you want me to help?”

“N-No, I think I’m good. Do we need to practice any more tonight?”

“No,” Alyssa says, a little too quickly. “I think we’re fine. I-I should get home.”

Emma nods. “Right. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh. School. Yeah.”

* * *

When Kaylee and Shelby get up on stage, Shelby in a white dress and Kaylee in a light teal one, Alyssa leans over to Emma and whispers, “Five bucks says they sing something that makes them look stupidly in love without actually realizing it.”

Emma snorts and whispers back, “Ten bucks says Shelby knows but Kaylee doesn’t.”

“You’re on.”

Shelby gets up to the microphone, nervously rubbing her hands together. She swallows before she grins and says, “Hi. I’m Shelby; this is Kaylee. We’re doing a duet variation of ‘That’s How You Know’ from the film _Enchanted_ , originally performed by Amy Adams.”

Alyssa pulls a ten dollar bill out of her wallet and hands it to Emma.

* * *

“Should we decide what we’re wearing to our performance? I mean, we want the extra credit, right?”

Emma, studying one of the harmonies, looks up. “Oh. Yeah, I guess. I figured I’d wear something similar to one of Phillip’s outfits and you’d wear something similar to one of Anne’s? I wasn’t sure if you would want to do what she wears in the scene specifically since it’s doesn’t really feel like something you’d wear to class.”

“It’s not. I have a few options though that I might like to do. As long as we’re in agreement that we _will_ it’s fine.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. It makes complete sense. You know how much Mr. Glickman likes the theatrics.”

“Only a little bit,” Alyssa deadpans.

* * *

Alyssa walks into the small room behind the stage in a short purple dress with gold highlights and heels. Emma turns around as she enters, fidgeting with the positioning of an undone white bowtie that’s resting on top of her white button-down shirt. Alyssa’s eyes skim from the shirt to the black dress pants to the black dress shoes.

“Wow,” she murmurs. “You got that scene almost perfect.”

“You’re doing the moment Phillip first sees her,” Emma says softly. “Right?”

“Yes. I would’ve put a bit of pink in my hair, but I’m pretty sure my mother would’ve killed me.” Alyssa laughs, but Emma stays quiet, just looking at her. “Is it okay?”

“Yeah,” Emma whispers. “I just think I know how he felt.”

Alyssa shoves her shoulder in an attempt at playful, but it doesn’t stop the blush that rises on her face. “Stop it. We need to go out there in like a minute.”

“Right. Right. What song are we singing again?”

“I swear to God, Emma.”

Emma grins at her and gives a small half-bow, holding out her hand. “After you, Miss Greene.”

* * *

Emma grips the microphone, trying to ignore the fact that her whole class is watching her. She looks over at Alyssa, who grins at her and nods. Emma takes in a long, slow breath and says, “Uh. Hi. I’m Emma. This is Alyssa. We’re performing ‘Rewrite the Stars’ from the movie _The Greatest Showman_ , originally performed by Zac Efron and Zendaya.”

She swallows, glances at Alyssa again, and starts.

_[You know I want you / It’s not a secret I try to hide / I know you want me / So don’t keep saying our hands are tied]_

As she continues, she swears she sees Kaylee hand money over to Shelby, but she ignores it, focusing on the way Alyssa is smiling at her as she steps up to the mic herself.

_< You think it’s easy / You think I don’t want to run to you / But there are mountains / And there are doors that we can’t walk through>_

Alyssa starts walking towards her, carrying the microphone stand, and Emma fights off a grin as she takes a few steps closer of her own. They meet in the middle at the same time as the song gives them a chance to sing together.

_#All I want is to fly with you / All I want is to fall with you / So just give me all of you#_

Alyssa laughs. _< It feels impossible>_

_[It’s not impossible]_

_< Is it impossible?>_

_#Say that it’s possible#_

Emma and Alyssa both pull their microphones off of their stands and stand as close together as they can without feedback, linking the fingers of their free hands.

_#How do we rewrite the stars? / Say you were made to be mine? / Nothing can keep us apart / Cause you are the one I was meant to find / It’s up to you / And it’s up to me / No one can say what we get to be / Why don’t we rewrite the stars? Changing the world to be ours#_

Alyssa pulls her hand away and takes a few steps back, leaving Emma alone in the middle of the stage. She sets her microphone back in its stand and faces the rest of their class before finishing.

_< You know I want you / It’s not a secret I try to hide / But I can’t have you / We’re bound to break and / My hands are tied>_

As the words die out, Emma puts her microphone back where it belongs and beams over at Alyssa, who is still staring blankly out into the audience. The class is applauding, and Emma swears she sees Kaylee pass more money over to Shelby, but she’s distracted by Mr. Glickman coming up to her.

“That was _such a good job_ you guys!” He pats Emma on the knee. “Extra points for the costuming, of course, and good work on the emotions. You really nailed that. I think Alyssa did a bit _too_ good of a job though; you might want to make sure she’s okay.” He winks at Emma. “Sometimes you rookies overwhelm yourselves when you go too hard, but honestly, I love that kind of dedication.”

Emma looks around to see what he’s talking about, and notices that Alyssa is no longer on the stage. She walks into the back room, worried, and finds Alyssa leaning against the wall, a hand over her face.

“Alyssa? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Alyssa says, the obvious emotion in her voice giving her away.

“That’s not nothing,” Emma says gently. She walks up to Alyssa and rests a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. We did _great_. You did _amazing_. What’s going on?”

Alyssa lowers her hands, allowing Emma to see the tears staining her cheeks. “Emma,” she whispers.

“What? What can I do? Alyssa, I don’t underst-”

The words are cut off as Alyssa throws herself forward, kissing Emma on the mouth. Emma stumbles backwards, bumping into the wall separating the room from the stage, her hands flailing awkwardly near Alyssa’s waist as the kiss deepens.

When Alyssa finally pulls back, breathless, she stammers, “S-Sorry. Emma, oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Emma asks weakly.

“I don’t know; I thought it would be polite to apologize for tackling my friend and making out with her without any warning.” Alyssa takes a few steps backwards. “I-I just… I…” She touches her lips briefly as if she’s still overwhelmed. “I’ve liked you forever, and it hurt in practice, but standing there trying to put all of the emotions in, being in costume, in front of everybody, it just…”

“You like me?” Emma echoes, dumbfounded.

“How is that the only part of that you heard?”

“It’s the part I’m still confused by. How could _you_ possibly like _me_?”

Alyssa blinks. “How could I not?”

Emma stares at her for a long moment. “Alyssa, I’ve been in love with you to some degree since we were in second grade. Possibly from the moment I met you. Since longer than I’ve even known was love was.”

“Oh,” Alyssa whispers, a note of awe in her voice. “Well. Does that… Does that mean I get to kiss you again?”

Emma laughs. “Yes. Yes, Alyssa Greene, that means you get to kiss me again.”

“Good.” Alyssa grabs the collar of Emma’s shirt and yanks her closer, but Emma stops her before she makes contact.

“I think Shelby and Kaylee were betting on us like we did with them.”

Alyssa frowns. “I wonder why? We aren’t nearly as obvious as they are.”

“I know, right? They’re weird.”

“They’re dumb,” Alyssa says, shaking her head as she tugs Emma forward to kiss her again.


End file.
